Legacy
by Diamonds to Dust
Summary: The war's over, now what? Harry Potter struggles to find a new purpose, until a new job offer comes, one that will surely involve his death. But what about Susan Bones? Will he leave her behind? But being the Minister's niece brings other dangers as well... "...Isn't it enough?" Oneshot, a little something that popped into my head. Rated T for mild swearing and slight violence.


"Are you sure, Harry?"

The people walked past, everyone with their own problems and endeavors. But they all led to the same thing.

"Yes, Susan. I want to do something that people will remember me for. I don't just want to be remembered as the Boy Who Lived."

More people passed. More dreams and fears, epiphanies and tears.

Susan stared at him for a long time, almost incredulously.

"So my love isn't enough? You don't think I'll remember you? Or our children? Everyone else will remember Voldemort's vanquisher, but I won't. I'll remember the caring husband, the loving father, the shy boyfriend. Harry Potter," Susan flared, but by the time the last words came out, she spoke softly, looking him right in the eyes with that stare of hers.

He could see himself in her eyes, like a mirror.

Harry paused, feeling her words flow through him, knowing she was right. But it wasn't enough.

"I need to find my purpose, Susan. My sole mission in life until now was to kill a man who couldn't die. Now what?"

More people passed. Love, joy, pride.

"You live. You don't go throw your life away studying the Veil."

"I don't necessarily have to walk through it-"

"But you will. I know you, Harry. You won't stop until you know every last thing inside out. You're the only one crazy enough," She spoke in her soft, entrancing voice.

A long pause filled the bench. Susan just shook her head, rubbing her brown eyes.

"So you'll just leave me alone? Just like that? To find your damn godfather?"

Harry sprang up from the bench.

"Don't you dare talk about him that way."

"Harry, he's dead. Dead. Bringing them back… it's unnatural. You saw him with the stone. He's somewhere better, with your parents. Please, for my sake, don't. Please don't."

Susan broke down in tears, her red hair falling to her sides in the familiar curls he loved.

"Susan, I have to do this."

She nodded her head, slowly, then stood and started running.

"Susan?"

She ran, and he followed. She went past people, traffic, cars, everything. Muggles looked at her with a passing curiosity, but stood out of her way. Finally, she got to the familiar, deserted red telephone booth.

Glancing around quickly, she placed a repelling charm just in case. She typed in the correct code just as she saw Harry round the corner, tears still streaming down her face. He ran, but the booth was already lowering with Susan, guest badge in hand.

"Damn it all."

Harry ran as fast as he could to the nearest apparition point, which wasn't too far away.

Grabbing his wand and concentrating, he felt the squeezing sensation that accompanied the method of travel. Opening his eyes again, he found himself in the Ministry.

He sprinted again. Spotting Susan wasn't hard, with her strawberry blonde hair and the way people parted for her like the Red Sea did for Moses. Being the Minister's niece had its benefits. She ran straight towards the elevator, bypassing security.

Harry blasted through, and just got to the elevator as she got on, but the door was closing fast.

Then it happened.

The other five people in black shrouded their faces with hoods, and seized Susan, subduing her with a stunner.

It all happened so fast. Too fast.

"No! Susan!"

It was futile. By the time he touched the closing doors, they had somehow portkeyed away.

"Sound the alarm! Kidnapping!"

* * *

Harry reached out with his magic, sensing Susan's magical core in the abandoned building.

It had been two months since the incident. Authorities freaked. The entire magical community was under alert, searching for the Minister's niece. The kidnappers had demanded a ransom, practically all the Ministry had. Hitwizards, Aurors, hell, even mercenaries had been sent out in hopes of finding her, with no such luck. But here it was just him.

He'd tracked the apparition trail with his magic, albeit it being two months old. It had taken a lot out of him just to find it. But after all, he didn't get that job offer from the Unspeakables for nothing.

Harry kept scanning, locating all of his targets. They would all suffer. If they laid a finger on her…

Feeling satisfied, he ignored the wards surrounding the place and squeezed through, apparating unto the roof. Easy.

He opened the hatch that led down some flights of stairs he'd detected earlier, and crept down. Having walked down some floors now, he came to a sealed door with numerous locking charms on it, and a small square imprint on the wall that looked like it could be opened to slide food in. Susan.

He took off all the charms on the door, not bothering to check the walls. Afterwards, Harry just opened the door and stepped through.

There on the floor lay his precious Susan. Blood matted her hair, there were huge bags under her eyes, but her pristine skin was left untouched. Thank Merlin. She appeared to be asleep.

Suddenly, alarms sounded, high pitched wailings that made Harry want to blast his ears off. Shit. He should've checked the walls.

Susan woke up suddenly, holding a spoon in defense. It was sharpened to a point, perhaps using the walls. As always, Susan found a way to fight back.

"Harry?" She shouted over the alarms.

"We have to get out of here. Now. Can you walk?" He'd finally noticed her ankles looked beat up and slightly inflamed. Those bastards…

Susan shook her head, and tried to stand up, but her knees fell under her. Harry caught her quickly, knowing she needed to go to St. Mungo's. Isolation wasn't healthy, and her injuries needed to be fixed. Drawings and carvings were splattered all across the wall. Being stuck here for two months with no one and nothing had to be hard on her. She tried to keep herself sane with what she could.

Harry swung her over his shoulder, being careful not to cause her further pain.

"Let's go."

They hurried through, up the stairs, but he felt stronger wards come up. Anti-apparition, anti-portkey, anti-everything. Harry didn't have the magic left he needed to break through, especially not with another person.

"We have to find an alternate route. Here, Sue," He handed her a portkey, in the shape of a simple, silver ring, "If I know we won't make it, I'll try to get us past the wards. It'll kill me, but you'll have a chance. It'll take you to St. Mungo's. The activation code is 'haven'," Harry explained quickly.

Susan nodded form his shoulder, slipping the ring on.

Harry went down the stairs again, only to find company waiting for him. Seven shrouded figures stood at the bottom of the stairs, and Harry knew it was going to get dirty.

"Susan, whatever happens, don't move."

He drew a pistol from his belt, and fired in quick succession at his attackers. Blue, red, all sorts of color lights raced towards him from their wands, but none of them green. They wanted him alive. Good.

He just went through the motions, as he'd learned in the war. This was an old, old art, where the same things happened, the same tells, the same mindset.

With his other hand, he snapped his wand out of its holster, and erected a reflective shield. All of the spells hit, bouncing back at the attackers. Harry used this opportunity to pump them full of lead.

One bullet shot through one of the attackers, then into one of his buddy's throats. Harry had to keep moving around, as difficult as it was with Susan hanging like a sandbag on his shoulder.

Shot after shot was fired, spell after spell launched, until there was only one left. His friends lay dead, all of them in horrific positions. One man's head was cut clean off his body, while others were piled on top of each other after meeting Harry's gun.

He strode right up to him, disarming the man at the same time.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you."

The man stood still, and stood silent.

"Have it your way."

Harry ended his life, with no remorse. The simple basis of violence was 'him or me'. He wouldn't lose sleep over it.

Running down more, he got to the first floor. It seemed it'd been an old warehouse of sorts. Trash spilled everywhere, and machines were wrecked all around. Harry was thankful though that it'd only been those seven working together, though, just simple-minded greedy fools.

Harry ran. Ran like he always did, like he always had to, without complaint. Susan's breathing was becoming more shallow, and Harry noticed.

"Sue? Are you okay?"

Blood started spilling from her side, and he laid her down. A dark cutting hex had gotten to her. Fear bled into his mind, like never before.

"Damn it, Sue, can you hear me? You're losing blood fast. Susan!" Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and that answered enough. He head to get her help. Now.

A soft voice in the back of his head spoke.

_Run Harry, run._

* * *

Harry sat awake in the hospital chair, worried sick. The healers wouldn't let him see the operation, and would only tell him 'we don't know' about her status. It was so frustrating.

Blood replenishing potions, skelegrow, and a wide variety of tools and spells were keeping her alive. Harry knew her core was unstable. Blood was the life of the body, the thing magic was most powerful in. If you lost enough blood, you would lose magic along with it. To balance her core out… It was one of the most dangerous fields in medicine. But Harry knew, if anyone would survive, it would be Susan.

Reporters, journalists and people alike flooded the hospital. The Bones heir had finally been found. Saved nonetheless by our hero!

Harry would have none of it. He'd sealed off a part of the hospital too himself, and one healer even nodded in understanding. Only Hermione, Ron, Ginny and several others had come to visit. He even spoke with Amelia, who was practically his mother.

All he could do now was wait. His best friend, his girlfriend, his lover, his fiancé, his wife was in there, with an unknown health status, and a significant amount of blood loss. If only he'd been more careful…

"Susan, please. Come back to me."

* * *

The beeping noise of the heart monitor was steady, firm. Harry exhaled a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Sue!" He cried, rushing to her, pushing past healers who were leaving, letting them have some privacy.

Susan Bones lay in her hospital bed, her pristine skin looking pale, and her flaming red hair framing her face. But she was alright. And that was the only thing that mattered.

He looked over her, meeting her face to face. Susan's eyes opened slowly, gently, revealing her beautiful brown orbs.

"Oh Harry," She spoke softly, almost in a whisper. She brought her face up to him, but Harry met her halfway.

Their lips fit together perfectly, and their mouths moved in a dance that had been repeated for ages. Susan's lips moved in the sweetest ways, gently, softly, but passionate all at the same time. Their mouths formed a tandem of movements, forming a delightful mural of unity and wholeness. A warm love rose in his chest, and he expressed it through the kiss, letting her cup his face. Only she could do this to him, only she could elicit these feelings. How could he abandon her, sweet Susan?

"I'm sorry." He croaked out, his voice cracking. Susan stopped the kiss slowly, and spoke against his lips.

"Harry…"

He could see himself in her eyes, like a mirror.

"You're right. Your love… it's all I need. No one else matters. No one."

Susan smiled, tracing his neck affectionately.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, until our hair turns grey, until a coffin puts us to rest, until I can finally shake my father's hand. When our children ask me who my first love was, I want to be able to say 'she's right here'. Susan…"

Tears glistened in her eyes, tears of joy, tears of promise. They both knew what the other was thinking. The words came out of both of them, all the same, as natural as a lover's touch, or the sky being blue.

"You, are my legacy."

And it was enough.

* * *

**Until next time,**

**Your esteemed author**


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